Missing Ringtail
by Nerd of Camelot
Summary: Sequel to Suddenly A Ringtail. Sophie's had a pretty rough time so far... But with the memories of her time before the Sly world gone and her bonds with Lindsey, Ritchie, Rajan, and Rudy growing stronger every day, she'll just suck it up and get on with her life! And, maybe, stop a few crazy people in the process.
1. Prologue: Once A Thief

Sequel to _Suddenly A __Ringtail._ Haven't read it yet? Read it!

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Prologue: Once A Thief...

I grinned, the wind rustling my fur almost dangerously - quite a nice reminder of where I was at the moment. I crouched easily on the pole, watching the city fall asleep so I could make my move. Everything was spread out underneath me,from here on my perch. I could almost forget my mission, the view captivated me so.

But I began to move, my muscles clenching like a lion's when it prepares to pounce. And pounce I did, gracefully forward, sailing toward the ground abnormally fast before I whipped out my paraglider. I pulled sharply upwards, but I'd been practicing that maneuver for so long it barely fazed me. I was gliding ever faster toward my target.**  
**

The pompous rich brat would never know what hit him - until he saw the calling card. I landed lightly upon the roof, putting the paraglider away with ease of practice. The skylight in front of me was the only real obstacle I would face on the entire job.

I pulled a gadget out of my messenger bag that I kept on my shoulder almost at all times. I carefully placed said bag next to the skylight before placing the gadget against the security system, turning it off. A rope found its way into my hands as I anchored it to a small structure on the roof l, opened the skylight, dropped the rest of the rope inside, and slid down it. I landed in a thankfully laser free zone and carefully picked my way across the room to where the security started.

In the middle of a very large assortment of lasers and spotlights was the very thing I was looking for - the Venus de Whalo, a would've-been possession of Dimitri Loustaeu, ex-art forger and a member of Sly's gang. It was a possession of Beverly D'Oinkeau, and was stolen by Sly, who had it stolen from him at some point. The current owner was a pompous brat, and I had always wanted possession of it, if only for the peace of mind it would grant me for getting back my great, great grandfather's only lost treasure.

I grinned again and examined the room for any security cameras. None. Not even hidden ones. I nodded in satisfaction and began my deadly dance toward the statue. My biggest problem was the spotlight trained directly on it.

After a moment it was easy enough to get a hold on the spotlight from above - though it required a lot of acrobatics to avoid everything else and get to that level - and retrain it somewhere else. The objective was to leave no evidence that I had been there except for the calling card and the missing statue, so I would move it back before I left

Given the size of the statue, I was skeptical about being able to get it through all the security and onto the roof, but Lindsey had provided a solution. Before trying to grab it, I pulled out the gun-like device she had given me.

A shrink-ray. Highly unoriginal, but operational, as far as we could tell. I aimed the device at the large statue and fired. It quickly became small enough for me to hold in one hand, so I lowered myself to its level again and grabbed it. After placing my calling card (with a beret on it), I quickly got back on the level of that insistent spotlight and turned it back to the pedestal that the Venus de Whalo been on.

I danced through the security and back to the rope I'd climbed down on, putting the Venus de Whalo in a bag on my thigh for safe-keeping and climbing back out. I pulled the rope up after me and untied it from the pole it had been attatched to. My messenger bag was picked up and the device taken off the skylight's security system - after I closed it.

All that was left to do was flee back through the town to the hideout and un-shrink the Venus de Whalo.

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**A/N: Geez, already working on the sequel? I can't believe I actually finished a story for once! Suddenly A Ringtail is probably the most interesting thing (in my opinion) I've ever written... Here's hoping that Missing Ringtail will live up to those expectations!**


	2. Everything Settled

**A/N: Bonjour tout le monde! Je suis un peu obsédé par français en ce moment, alors j'ai écrit la note de l'ensemble Auteur en français!**

**Juste pour info, je mettrai à jour ce tous les dimanches, au lieu de tous les jours de la semaine putain de dieu maudit. C'est difficile à gérer lorsque vous avez d'autres histoires.**

**Amusez-vous!**

**(Ps, translate the second paragraph if you want to know when the next update is!)**

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Chapter 1: Everything Settled

I yawned tiredly and dragged myself out of bed, opening my door and glaring daggers at Lindsey.

"This had better be damn good, Lindsey. It's six o'clock in the frecking morning and I got home at two and was up for another hour writing in the Thievius Raccoonus."

"Where'd you out the Venus de Whalo?"

"Kitchen counter, right beside your grow ray."

"Kay. You can go back to bed now. Sorry for waking you up."

I grumbled and did so, passing out instantly. What felt like a second later there was another knock on my door. I growled and got up, vowing to kill whoever woke me up this time.

"Sophie, it's noon." Henry said disapprovingly.

"And? I've gotten twelve hours of sleep out of the 36 I missed planning last night's heist. Screw off."

I slammed the door and collapsed onto my bed, hoping to be able to go back to sleep. But, of course, my door opened and Henry came in, shutting it behind him. He sat down on the edge of my bed and rubbed my back.

"Why were you up so long?"

"The security, Lindsey's lack of ability to actually help me plan around the security, the security, and, oh, did I mention the frecking security?"

He nodded. "Alright, get some sleep then, Ringtail. You deserve it."

He stayed and rubbed my back until I fell asleep again. When I woke up, he was gone, and there was a note on the pillow next to me.

_Sophie, you slept for something around a day and a half, depending on when you read this. I had work to do, so I told the others to leave you alone until you got up and left your room of your own free will._

I smiled. "I love you, Henry. You are the most awesome older cousin ever." I whispered to thin air.

Feeling much better, I got up and stretched before tugging an old Metalica shirt on and some shorts. I was too lazy to find anything else and I reserved the right to dress comfortably. I stumbled out of my room and found I needn't have bothered - it was the middle of the night and chances were I was the only one up.

I made my way downstairs and past a sleeping Ritchie, who had apparently been watching TV when he fell asleep.

Ritchie had turned out to be a very good adition to the team. What he lacked in bravery he made up for in his ponderously sharp knowledge of explosives. In Lindsey's words, 'he knows his way inside, outside, upside down, and backwards through almost every lock we showed him!' That had me radiating pride for my second 'big brother' for the rest of the day.

I shook my head and smiled, continuing into the kitchen. Deciding to listen to my complaining stomach, I began the search for food. Just as I poked my head into the fridge, a covered plate and a note caught my eye. Uncovering the plate I found my favorite meal of all time, just waiting to be reheated.

_Soph, Lindsey told me you liked this stuff, so I saved you some. Rudy. _I smiled again and began to heat up the food.

Rudy had come really far since the Great Keaton Caper, as I called it, and he was more suited than ever to fill the brawn position in the gang. He had abandoned his more cowardly actions, favoring charging right in with or without a strategy. Not only did that make him awesome, but also the only person on the team besides me who Henry got to yell at for being irresponsible and reckless. We considered it hilarious, especially since the other three were so terrified of him.

As Rudy had stayed during the time the rift occured and separated the then four member team, he was treated much better by Henry when he got in trouble than if he would have been neutral or had taken Lindsey's side. Quite frankly, the worst thing Henry had said to him by then was something along the lines of 'idiotic brute', and he had almoat immediately apologized for the remark.

I got my plate out of the microwave and sat down to eat. Lindsey had reminded Rudy of my love for this stuff.

Lindsey, as our brainiac, had not really advanced much. Both of us felt a lot more comfortable with her just being a computer geek with some general knowledge of other things while we eventually got experts on the other stuff. Like Ritchie with the locks.

But thinking about the two of them so soon after one another brought back the conversation Rudy and I had had way back when, when he had realized he was in love with her. Had he told her yet? If he had, was it unrequited? I was confused, to say the least. But the thought of love brought up thoughts I preferred to avoid: thoughts of mine and Rajan's relationship.

The two of us had managed to be relatively good friends since the talk we'd had while I was still recovering, but my feelings for him were still there. I didn't know for sure if he'd ever actually felt the same, which made me sort of scared. Had he only wanted me for my body? I do have a rather nice body, for a raccoon, if I do say so myself.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I was in love with him. If you have a crush on someone for three to four months you either move on or you fall in love with them. I think a year and nine months can prove that point quite clearly, as I still, very keenly, felt the pain of breaking up with him. I wanted so badly to get back together with him, but I don't really think nine months consitutes being older. Getting into relationships scared me to death anyway, and I really didn't want to be one of those on again off again types.

I shook my head and took another bite of my food, chewing slowly and concentrating on the heavenly taste to try and distract myself. It proved completely futile as the subject of my musings walked in.

"Hey Sophie. Thought I heard you heating something up down here." He smiled.

I smiled back. "Yeah. I gotta have food to stay this fabulous." I flipped my messily braided hair and drew attention to my choice of clothing.

He chuckled, "Yeah...Fabulous is totally the word I'd use." He said sarcastically, "Lazy and unmotivated is more like it."

I held my hand over my heart and strived to look offended. "Hey! I resemble that remark!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Don't you mean resent?"

"Nope." I shook my head, "I was agreeing with you. Lazy and unmotivated is exactly right - I reserve the right to be a complete and total slacker where thieving isn't involved."

He laughed and shook his head at me before sitting down. "You are very beautiful, though." He said.

"Thanks." I tried to smile, but only managed to bite my lip. I hadn't been expecting that sort of compliment, but I supposed it was okay. It was okay for a guy friend and ex-boyfriend to tell a female friend she was pretty right?

_Not pretty._ My mind reminded me, _Very beautiful. He's hitting on you, you idiot._

-_But we broke up forever ago and we agreed we'd only try again when we got older!-_

_Do you really think he cares? He's a man for crying out loud!_

Rajan looked faintly worried. "Am I not supposed to say that?"

"No, no, it's fine! I just...Wasn't expecting you to, that's all."

But he still looked worrried, "Look, Sophie... We left a lot of things unsaid when you broke up with me... I never got a chance to tell you what you meant to me, and believe me, it was a lot more than you thought. I'm still really sorry I took Lindsey's side - I don't even know why I did. I just - ."

"Rajan."

He stopped and looked me in the eyes.

"It's all in the past now. Whatever I meant to you then...Well, some parts of me doubt it stayed the same and I'm sorry to say I agree with those parts. I don't care why you sided with Lindsey, I just know it hurt. A lot. But it doesn't matter anymore. I forgive you."

He stared at me for a second before he dropped his gaze to the table and said the words that made that night so hard for me to look back on.

"How I feel about you... How much you mean to me... Neither of those things are ever going to change."

And then he got up and left without another word. I sat there for a minute, staring at my mostly empty plate while a sick feeling crept up through my entire body. I don't know exactly what about the situation made me feel like that, but I do know the thought of eating any more of the food on my plate made me want to throw up. I just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep. And, preferably, never get up again.

So much for everything finally settling down for once in my life.


	3. Speakeasy

**A/N: _Anyway_... Here's the second official chapter. Also, sorry this wasn't up until late. . I was working on another project of mine and fanfiction was being an ass and not letting me sign in, so... Bleh.**

**Amusez-vous, read and review!_  
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Chapter 2: Speakeasy

Given my response to Rajan's words, it should hardly be surprising that I went to bed and didn't get up again until noon. I trailed down the stairs without a single sound, my feet silent as usual. The others were up having lunch, but I was still rather sick to my stomach, so I slunk into the living room and seated myself on the couch. I don't remember what was on the TV, as it really didn't catch my attention.

Rajan, to my dismay, was the first to finish eating. He seated himself on the couch a cushion away from me, and for a second it looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it. A few seconds later Ritchie walked in and plopped down right next to me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "Good to see you're finally up, Sophster!"

"I guess." I shrugged, "I'd rather finish catching up on my sleep, but my brain won't stop long enough for me to go back to sleep." I lied.

He laughed, "Try writing down whatever's bothering you." He suggested after a moment, "It might help."

I pursed my lips but nodded anyway, considering the suggestion. After a moment I got up, stalked up the stairs to my room, grabbed my laptop, and returned, reclaiming my seat next to Ritchie. I began typing up what was bothering me. To his credit, Ritchie didn't attempt to read it.

When I was done with that I deleted it and opened the book I was working on. Writing everything down actually helped, which surprised me. Had I retained my memories from before, it wouldn't have. But, aside from that, I actually got some work done on my book!

"Are you still typing up all your problems?" Ritchie asked sometime later, looking almost horrified.

"No, no. I'm working on _Speakeasy_." I replied.

Relief washed over his face. "Oh, okay. I was worried for a second there. How far along in it are you, anyway?"

"Chapter 23, which is a really big landmark for me."

He nodded. "You seriously have to let me read it when you're done. Just the name makes it sound cool."

I grinned and continued typing away. _Speakeasy_ was a book I'd started soon after I finished healing from the Great Keaton Caper. As the title suggests, it was set during the 1920s Prohibition movement. It revolved around a girl named Francesca, nicknamed Frankie, who, despite being a girl, was a bootlegger and a gunman to boot. She worked at the Celia Speakeasy in Southern Illinois, and had an obsession with symmetry, tidiness, and other such things. Despite that, she had no problem making and cleaning up all manners of unholy messes - usually with a golf club or a tommy gun.

Getting off that topic now. I could go on for hours and subsequently reveal the entire story to you. That would be no good.

Most of the day was spent lounging around, unsurprisingly, until Henry came over to inform us of an opportune hit. By that time I was actually well into chapter 25 of _Speakeasy_. Three chapters in one day is big for me. Really big.

Anyway, he told us about the place, passed his usual comments on my love of disregarding the law at every turn and therefore being perfect to write a 1920s Prohibition narrative, and he left again. Lindsdy began making the necessary preparations, and we agreed to go the night after, since the goods were supposed to be there through the 30th of the month and it was only the 14th.

What we were targetting was a painting called Hell's Unholy Mess, which was on display at a local museum. While there might be no honor and no challenge in stealing from ordinary people, there's not necessarily no fun in it. Stealing is always fun. Anyway, when we got it I was determined we were going to keep it long enough for me to make a forgery of it to sell instead so I could have the original. Lindsey had small qualms with the deceit, but trusted me enough to think I'd make it good enough there wasn't any suspicion.

With the plan in place, Lindsey locked herself in the 15th bedroom in the hideout, which she and I had converted into a lab and Headquarters of sorts. Most likely she was tinkering away at something or physically drawing up the plan for the heist. Neither would surprise me at all.

Ritchie, who I had never really told much about _Speakeasy_, prodded me for some sort of summary. Eventually I gave in and showed him the summary I'd written for the story itself.

_Francesca Marigold has her work cut out for her!_

_Between an irritatingly Catholic grandmother, working for the Celia Speakeasy in the trashy side of town, college, and an extremely nosy best friend, she has to divide her time very carefully and concot lies that are convincing enough for the first and last to believe them. As a bootlegger smuggling 'Shine through the Southwestern corner of Illinois in 1924, nothing can really be more dangerous. As a hired gun for the same Speakeasy she supplies alcohol to, things heat up quite a bit more than she'd like._

_As a supposedly Catholic granddaughter, she works hard to convince her very Catholic grandmother she's on the straight and narrow. As a college student she has to make sure she gets her homework done - the least of her worries!_

_Most worrysome is her best friend, Nicodeme Wilson. Nicodeme is one determined young lady, and she'll stop at nothing to find out what Francesca sneaks out every night to do._

"Interesting." Ritchie said as he slid my laptop back to me. "Got a favorite character other than Francesca?"

I nodded, "Nicodeme. I get the feeling I based her on somebody, but I don't have a clue who it could be."

Interestingly, I did base her on somebody. I based her on my best friend Em, who I didn't remember at the time. The name Nicodeme came from her crush on Nico di Angelo, from the Percy Jackson series. I just added the 'deme' as a subconscious want to distinguish the two.

"So, I'm now wondering... did you base any characters on your gang?" Ritchie asked.

"Yeah. Zeek Hatchet is based on you, and he's Frankie's biggest tormentor. But everything between them is completely platonic. Then there's Dominic Vasquez, Frankie's literal partner in crime, who I based on Rudy. After him is his girlfriend, a flapper at the Celia, who's based on Lindsey. And, of course, Calvin Kingsly. Calvin is based on Rajan, obviously, and he and Frankie go back a long way." I bit my lip. "You don't mind spoilers, do you?"

Ritchie shook his head, "Not at all, so long as they're small."

I nodded, "Well, it's not really a spoiler, per se, but it does sort of play into Frankie and Cal's relationship. See, I don't reveal what sort if things they got up to pre-Speakeasy. The way I write them is meant to portray familiarity, often bitter, but sometimes affectionate. I'm not sure how well I manage it, though, since I have a mind like a child's and I do things that make absolutely no sense to anybody but me." I chewed on the inside of my cheek and stared at the ceiling for a minute, "It's bad form to say it like this, but things weren't always platonic between those two."

Ritchie laughed. "You really are good at long-winded explanations, Soph."

I pursed my lips, laughing a bit and nodding. "Yeah, I guess I am."

For a while he pestered me on his role in the story, and I answered most of his questions. But sometime later he yawned and excused himself, bidding me goodnight. I returned the good will to him and continued typing. I'm not sure how much later Rajan walked into the kitchen and seated himself across from me. For a few minutes he just watched me type.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He eventually asked.

"Speakeasy. It's a book I've been writing since I fully recovered."

He nodded. "Sophie." He said after a moment. I looked up. "About what I said last night... I feel like I need to elaborate. Something about saying it like that and then walking off is just eating at me." He broke eye contact and his eyes drilled into the table top. "I'm not sure how to say it, exactly, but you really do mean a lot to me. Seriously. And I...well... I think I'm in love with you. I've been crushing on you since Cairo and... well... Damn, this is weird..."

I tilted my head to the side. "Since...Cairo?"

He loked up and nodded cautiously.

I bit the inside of my lip and redirected my eyes to my computer screen. "Looks like I was wrong, then. That makes me feelso much better about myself."

He, when I looked up, had the most adorable 'WTF' look in the history of ever on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Don't get mad, but... Well, like most scorned women who left a lot unsaid in a relationship, I was sort of thinking you... that your interests were solely physical."

He stared at me for a moment. "Solely physical? Sophie, I - that sort of hurts." He said. "Not that you aren't the most beautiful woman I've ever met, but my interest in you was never physical. At all. The fact that you're drop dead gorgeous is just a nice add on."

I was blushing a lot. "Drop dead gorgeous, huh? Weren't you calling me lazy and unmotivated just last night?" I asked. But I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

He smiled back and went to reply, but Rudy walked in.

"Night, Soph!" He said happily, hugging me. He punched Rajan in the shoulder. "Night Rajan."

Rajan punched back, "See ya in the morning, Rude."

I fought a yawn after Rudy walked out, but Rajan noticed. "You should head to bed too, Ringtail. We can continue this discussion some other time." He smiled at me and I felt compelled to do so.

I got up, locking my laptop and saving _Speakeasy_, though not necessarily in that order. Then, despite my conscious telling me it was stupid, I hugged Rajan, told him goodnight, and then kissed him on the lips before he could reply. I walked out of the kitchen and up to my bedroom, giggling to myself at the shell-shocked expression on his face. It was really cute.

Some parts of me, like the bitter ex-girlfriend, were screaming at me and telling me I was an idiot. But some were congradulating me.

...I know, I'm crazy.

Anyway! My romance and very strange mind aside, I actually wasn't all that tired, so I decided to meditate. Most of the time, when I meditate, I just fall into a black abyss and stay there until something rouses me. I can stay in a meditative state for at least a day without any interruptions. But, considering who I live with, that's the longest I've managed to go. But sometimes my mind reaches back through time and connects to Jacey Cooper's.

Surprisingly, us talking doesn't alter the timeline at all. She doesn't even mention it in the Thievius Raccoonus. But we can go on and on about our problems to each other, and usually help each other out somehow.

This time, my mind did just that. Jacey immediately, as usual, noticed my presence in the back if her mind.

"Howdy, pardner." She said to me.

"Hey there. What's up?"

"The sky?" She suggested.

I laughed. "Whatcha doin', then?"

"Resting up after a big heist, actually. I'm technically asleep right now."

"I should be. But I wasn't quite tired enough."

She laughed, and we spent my meditation talking about random stuff, including boys, during which she admitted to having a crush on Damien. When I was finally tired enough, I said goodbye to her and brought myself out of the meditation. I uncrossed my legs and got up, only to collapse onto my bed and curl up in order to fall asleep.

Rather uneventful day, really. Don't know why I wanted to talk about it.


	4. It All Went To Hell

**A/N: Hey, y'all! Working on Cobalt Twilight and this at the same time is rather hectic. Extremely hectic, actually. All the characters run around my head, throwing papers, setting things on fire, and other such things whilst Sophie and Sonic sit on a filing cabinet together watching the chaos unfold with their eyebrows raised. Where am I in all of this? Sitting at the only desk that's in any type of order, typing frantically on a laptop with one hand while the other grips the side of my head. And on my desk sits my cat, Alice, who is rather...psychopathic. She just watches everything indifferently, swatting her tail with a paw every time one of the random flaming objects hits it.**

**...I seriously need to see some sort of mental health doctor and get my head checked out.**

**Anyway, during this chapter, the songs 'One Winged Angel' from Advent Children and 'Crisis' from FFX are good choices - in that order. If I'm to believe myself, something hilarious happens here at the beginning.**

**Also, writing the romance between Rudy and Lindsey is so awkward! I wasn't really thinking about it when the pairing came into being in my head, but he's a wolf and she's a hawk and it is _so_ weird! **

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Chapter 3: It All Went To Hell

I woke up to the sounds of a resounding crash, Ritchie swearing at the top of his lungs, and Rudy giving a loud cry of pain. Under any other circumstances, I would assume Rudy and Ritchie had just knocked something over again and nearly crushed themselves to death. But something told me to get up, get dressed as quickly and quietly as possible, and get downstairs.

Once decked out in my usual garb, I found myself not the only one in the house who was worried. Rajan met me halfway to the stairs, both of us creeping. I motioned for him to wait, and he seemed content enough to do so.

Being the girl who usually screams at the people in horror movies not to separate or to go downstairs alone, I felt highly idiotic doing both things in a span of three seconds. As it was, I crept down the stairs and emerged into a scene I really didn't like - Lindsey collapsed on the floor crying, Rudy lying next to her motionless with a pool of blood slowly starting to circle his head, and Ritchie struggling against a form I knew well.

Keaton.

...Wait. WHAT?! Keaton was dead! I _killed_ him! _With my own hands..._ He couldn't be alive. He just couldn't. But he was. But he couldn't be.

I barely thought before I was off those stairs and across the room in one leap, crashing into Keaton like a sack of bricks. And I wasn't just imagining things. He was real. Solid. Alive and breathing - _alive at all_ - and it really burned me. Honestly, I kill him and suffer a nervous breakdown so he comes back to rub salt in the wounds? That dick! I was so pissed off at a moment's notice I couldn't see straight. And I made it clear to him by pretty much repeating my last attack on him.

"Geez, is this what happened last time?" I heard Ritchie ask.

"No, it was worse." Lindsey sniffed, "By the time she was punching him this much both of them were pretty much bleeding to death already."

"An encounter I _don't_ intend to let repeat itself." Keaton said sharply, his feet digging into my stomach and shoving.

He was trying to throw me, and it worked, considering I'm about, in Ritchie's words, 'nine pounds soaking wet'. What can I say? I get a lot of excercise and I eat often, I'm gonna be relatively skinny. I slammed into the wall across from where I'd been with a sickening thud and my vision went black for a moment. When I managed to blink it away and focus on Keaton, he was already right in front of me.

He grabbed a handful of my hair - not a good idea unless I'm in the mood to enjoy or just flat-out ignore things like that, mind you - and jerked me to my feet. The ripping sensation caused me more pain than it really should've but come on, it was Keaton.

"Mother_fucker_!" I snapped before I could censor myself. I kneed him in the nads by way of reciprocation of his obvious sentiments, feeling oddly satisfied when he hissed and let go of me.  


I kneed him in the face when he made the mistake of bending over, and then pounced after him. We rolled around the living room for a while, which found me slamming his head into anything I could when we passed it. We were, much like our last encounter, throwing punches, biting, clawing and, yes, basically trying to rip each other to shreds - _AGAIN._

Eventually Keaton threw me off again, and I again felt arms like steel bands take a hold of me and lower me safely to the ground. Rajan had made it down the stairs.

He let me go after only a short delay in which I could swear he sniffed my hair. He then carefully picked his way around the room while I distracted Keaton at my insistence to go get bandages for Rudy. Keaton either didn't notice or didn't care, because he was after me in a second.

To be entirely honest, since I wasn't packed with adrenaline or running entirely on nerves, I was terrified. Sure, I had beat him once - with debatable effect, as I was fighting him again - and I was stronger now, but he had very nearly killed me, something Henry pointed out and screamed at me for. I didn't know if I could beat him without all the extra power I'd had the last time. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to hold my own against him anywhere past rolling around beating each other up.

When Keaton and I crashed into each other, I knew I couldn't beat him by myself, not unless I resorted to dirty tricks. I'm not against doing so, of course, but I do prefer a fair fight. Bandages flew past our heads and Lindsey caught them, immediately starting to bandage Rudy's head. And then Rajan crashed into Keaton from behind, taking the fight off my hands for a time.

And that was when Ritchie joined in, helping Rajan hold Keaton off with some difficulty. I caught my breath before pulling the Slow move and taking off. Keaton charged right back at me and we collided at high speed in the middle of the room. I grabbed a hold of him and tossed him through the front window, flinching and then scowling when it broke. I shared a look with Ritchie and Rajan, but even though it had been brief, the encounter was too much for them. They were already panting.

"I'll be back." I said, briefly reminding myself of the Terminator.

Ritchie nodded and Rajan looked rather helpless. He grabbed my arm before I could haul myself out the window after Keaton and looked me in the eyes.

"Try not to get yourself killed." He said, looking away.

His hand started to leave my arm, and I caught it with my own. I squeezed reassuringly. "I'll do my best."

And then I let go and jumped out the window. Keaton was charging back toward the house, but I'd had the foresight to use the Slow move and jump with my chest parallel to the ground. I again crashed into the fox, sending us both tumbling. I wasted no time in latching my teeth onto his cheek while my nails dug into his flailing arms. I had the strangest feeling as I did so, like a predator nailing its prey.

But then I realized it wasn't quite such a predatory feeling, but more of a defence mechanism. It was at that moment I realized I was sinking into my survival instincts. Cornering and scaring a raccoon is a fool's sport for a reason - we're viscious.

We were rolling again, but he wasn't trying to strike me - he was trying to loosen my grip. His blood was in my mouth and under my nails, soaking my light gray fur and turning it crimson. My mouth was full of the taste of copper, and I could understand why he'd want me off - punture wounds are hard to treat, especially when they're in places you can't easily reach, like your own shoulders.

By the time he managed to throw me off, he had wounds that were _defnitely_ going to scar. There was no explanation, no warning, no 'okay I give up'. Keaton just disappeared while I laid collapsed against the side of the house. I was in pain from his earlier throw of me, exhausted from the exertion of fighting him, in even more pain from my slamming into the side of the house, and I could swear my head was bleeding, which wouldn't be good.

With all this, I could hardly move, especially since my brain was still sort of scrambled from the impact. After a moment, I managed to remember how to move my arm and reached up, touching the back of my head. Nope. Nothing. I definitely had a concussion, though.

I was just starting to struggle to my feet when Ritchie rounded the side of the house with a worried expression. When he saw me it briefly turned to horror until he realized I was moving. He rushed to my side and placed one of my arms around his shoulders and hauling me to my feet.

"Are you hurt?" He asked as he started helping me stumble toward the front of the house.

I had to struggle for a second to figure out how to talk. "I think I have a concussion." I said lamely, "My brain is definitely scrambled even if I don't."

He nodded. "Anything else? That's a lot of blood."

I shook my head. "No, nothing else. I bit him. Hard. And I clawed him to try and keep him down. He threw me into the side of the house and then my head got all fuzzy... I have a headache."

He led me inside and past the others. Rudy was, thankfully, okay but rather dazed. Even he looked at me when Ritchie led me to sit down on the couch. He let go of me and I somehow managed to hold completely still and stay upright while he checked out my head. After a minute he hummed.

"Well, I have to agree with your assumption that you have a concussion, but it's nothing serious. If you stay in bed and don't do anything for the rest of the say and probably tomorrow too, you should be fine by tomorrow night, the morning after at latest." He said, "Rajan, would you stay with her and make sure she wakes up every two hours or so? We have to make sure she doesn't suffer any damage from this."

Rajan nodded. When Ritchie moved aside, he didn't even help me up - he picked me up bridal style and adjusted me in his arms until I was comfortable, although it was probably sort of painful for him considering even I can be dead weight if I'm in pain. He carried me up the stairs and laid me down on my bed.

In my concussion addled mind, I couldn't quite recall that I was supposed to be just friends with him at the moment. So, when he attempted to back away, I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and asked him not to leave.

Maybe because he wanted to, or maybe because I wanted him to, he scooted me a little farther back climbed onto the bed, tugging me to his chest when he was situated. I went to say something to him, although I don't remember what it was, and just as I opened my mouth Rajan started running his fingers through my hair.

"Reggie - " I began.

"Shh. I'm sure whatever you have to say can wait until you're completely coherent. Get some sleep, Soph."

Exhausted and confused as I was, I felt compelled to listen to him and fell asleep.

**Two days later...**

"How ya feelin' Ringtail?" Rudy asked me, coming in and sitting down on my couch.

I smiled and saved my work, closing my laptop. "Much better. I was afraid I was forgetting things for a while there, but it was just minor stuff - like what color Lindsey's eyes are. I don't think I ever really took note, though, so..."

Rudy got an extremely heartsick expression on his face. "Orange." He said, "Her eyes are orange."

"You still haven't told her yet, have you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I just...can't think of a way to broach the subject." He admitted. I didn't find out until later thst Lindsey was eavesdropping. "'Hey, Lindsey, I'm in love with you and I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth, as long as Sophie's with us!' Yeah. I can totally see that working." He frowned at me.

"You could always just, you know, walk up to her, kiss her for no reason and whisper it to her." I suggested.

He laughed, though it was sort of hollow. "That how you and Rajan got together?" He asked bitterly.

"No, actually." I tried not to let him know how much the jab hurt, "We just sorta... had a spontaneous makeout session and decided we were dating. We never really elaborated on why we were kissing in the first place and we left a lot of things unsaid. Up until he randomly started spewing his guts to me a few nights ago I was convinced he didn't give a damn at all."

Rudy seemed to notice how I clenched my teeth and avoided eye contact with him though.

"Sorry, Soph. That was uncalled for." He said, "...How long were you two together, anyway?"

"About a day. I mean, I broke up with him after I punched Lindsey, but we weren't much of a couple during that fight."

Rudy slowly nodded. "Ouch. I can sort of see how you would think he didn't give a damn, in that case. He took another girl's side right after you got together."

We were quiet for a minute before he got up and hugged me. "See ya later, Soph. Hope things clear up between you and Rajan soon."

I smiled, "Same to you and Lindsey."

He laughed and left the room.

~•~ ~•~

I laughed and walked out. Sophie was such an awesome older sister, even if she does say I'm the older brother. I got only partway back to the stairs before I saw Lindsey. She looked nervous.

"Lindsey?" I asked when she just stared at me and bit her lip upon seeing me.

"I... I need to talk to you, Rudy." She said.

I swallowed uneasily, it was obvious what was on her mind. My throat felt dry. "...How much of that conversation did you hear?"

"Enough of it."

And then, suddenly, my arms were full of Lindsey and her lips were on mine. I didn't even get time to recover before she pulled away and smiled.

"I love you too."

I felt my lips beginning to twitch, and slowly a grin formed on my face as I jumped and fist pumped. "Woohoo!"

She laughed and I was, not for the first time, struck by her beauty. I kissed her this time, and very quickly I forgot about everything else in the world. There was only Lindsey and me.

~•~ ~•~

I heard a loud, "Woohoo!" from the hallway, and something told me Rudy and Lindsey were already past the most difficult part of their relationship.

I grinned.


	5. Mind &s Galore

**A/N: Hallo, ich bien Allie Pierson! If you've read this stuff you should really already know that, but I was watching Jeff Dunham last night and I'm sorta obsessed with German, so... Yeah. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Mind ! #&s Galore

After the events of Keaton's return, and the days following, everyone was still shaken up a week later. Well, Rudy and Lindsey were absorbed with each other, but I was relatively sure that was their way of dealing with it. In fact, I envied them.

Rajan wasn't avoiding me, per se, but we weren't as close as I would've liked. Yeah, I'm clingy. Sue me. He's like the only person I've ever had a serious crush on that wasn't completely fictional.

Anyway.

Ritchie and Rajan continually checked up on me over the days after Keaton and I clashed again. Ritchie was much more thorough about his checkups, and he was there much more often. If Rajan could tell his sudden distance bothered me, he either didn't care or thought I was acting.

My entire personality crumbled just a little bit when he was around, my usual cheeky grin just wouldn't come, and I couldn't even joke properly with him. It was actually damaging me that he was being so weird, even though I'd managed to be happy just being his friend. But something had changed, and he was just being so freaking weird.

It was a serious mind fuck.

•^• •^•

I know Sophie thinks everything was all hunky dory between Rudy and I while we dealt with the tike after Keaton came back, and for the most part it was, but both of us were keenly aware of Sophie's growing depression. Rudy moreso than me, of course, but I could definitely tell.

And it didn't take a genius to figure out it was becauee of Rajan, although at first I wasn't sure what he had done. But then I started seeing the walls he was putting up. The distance he was trying to put between them. I could tell it was killing her.

Rudy was getting increasingly angry with our resident tiger, and I was barely keeping him from beating every kind of anything he could out of him.

"I'm sure if it really bothers Sophie enough, she'll speak up or ask you to kick his ass."

His expression clearly told me that she wouldn't, but he sat back and simply glared. I got the feeling Rajan would only be safe so long as Sophie didn't get to the point of depression she'd been at during la Grand Keaton Caper. Then, Rudy would have his head on a silver platter - well done.

With the way Rajan moped during that fight way back when, you'd think he wouldn't be rejecting her like that, but he was.

Talk about screwing with someone's head. Poor Sophie.

•^• ~•~

Lindsey does have a point. I was going to kill Rajan.

~•~ *-*

I know everyone thought I was being a dick by distancing myself from Sophie, but I didn't want to screw us up again. If we weren't even friends, I didn't have a reason to be near her. If I didn't have a reason to be near her, I couldn't be tempted. And if I couldn't be tempted, there would be no chance of me fucking things up.

Yeah, my logic is bullshit, in hindsight.

Oblivious to all my other friend's musings, I found myself falling into depression again. Ritchie came to check on me again. Like the others, he had noticed my growing depression. He sighed before he left.

"I told you a year ago, and I'll tell you again, I don't like Rajan." He said, "I don't like his attitude, I don't like his shifty little eyes."

And then he left.

All I really have to say on the matter is as folows, and I quote: _mon coeur était comme il était joué comme une harpe à mains faite d'ombre, dont des clous étaient sharp comme crystal tessons, probable à couper droit grâce à mon sternum. J'ai été en douler constante._


End file.
